Shashwat Chauhan and Shristi Achar A.
(Reuters) – Stocks outshone peers on Tuesday after upbeat results from health insurer UnitedHealth, while higher Treasury yields and conflict in the Middle East kept investors on edge.
Dow Component UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:) shares rose 5.9% after the health insurer beat expectations for first-quarter adjusted earnings.
Other insurance companies such as Humana (NYSE:), CVS Health (NYSE:) and Centena (NYSE:) added 0.3% to 1.2%.
Morgan Stanley rose 2.4% after beating first-quarter profit estimates, helped by a revival in investment banking.
“This morning’s earnings reports were good. But more than that, the market is just looking for a bottom after the recent sell-off,” said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments.
“The broader market rally was actually driven by the prospect of rate cuts. And, at least for now, that seems to be gone, and there is more individual stock selection based on performance rather than just buying indexes.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s war cabinet was due to meet for the third time in three days, the official said, to decide on a response to Iran’s first-ever direct attack, amid international pressure to avoid further escalation of conflicts in the Middle East.
However, gains were capped as the 10-year Treasury yield hit a new five-month high, a day after data showed U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in March amid a surge in online shopping. and which points to a strong first quarter for the US economy.
Several policymakers, including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, are scheduled to speak later in the day, and investors will be watching for clues about where the central bank stands on policy easing.
Fed Vice Chairman Philip Jefferson said “it would be prudent to maintain current contractionary policies longer” if inflation does not slow as expected.
U.S. stocks have recently sold off as investors sharply adjusted their expectations for how much the Fed will cut rates this year, with rates now showing only about 42 basis points of expected easing, according to LSEG data. This is down from about 150 bps seen at the start of the year.
Rate-sensitive real estate and utilities led the industry downturn, down about 1% each.
At 9:48 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 87.56 points, or 0.23%, at 37,822.67, down 13.26 points, or 0.26%, at 5,048.56. and fell 47.18 points, or 0.30%, to 15,837.84. .
Among other stocks, Tesla (NASDAQ:) lost 3.7% after falling more than 5% in the latest session when an internal memo seen by Reuters showed the EV market was laying off more than 10% of its global workforce.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:) shares fell 2.0% as the drugmaker’s first-quarter earnings missed analysts’ expectations after sales of its blockbuster psoriasis drug Stelara fell short of expectations.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 5.70-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 3.50-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P recorded no new 52-week highs and six new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded nine new highs and 189 new lows.